Seeking permanent residence in the United States for employment purposes is important to many foreign nationals seeking to secure employment and permanent residency. There are five categories for seeking permanent residence based on employment and those seeking employment-based immigration should be familiar with what they are.
Categories for employment-based green cards
There are 5 categories for pursuing employment-based green cards in order of priority including:
- Priority workers – priority workers include those with extraordinary abilities in the fields of athletics, business, arts, sciences or education. Examples may include outstanding researchers or college professors. Other examples may include business executives or managers transferred to the U.S.
- Professionals with advanced degrees or with exceptional abilities – this category includes professionals with exceptional abilities in the fields of business, arts or sciences. Examples include professionals with advance degrees. It can also include medical physicians that will practice in traditionally underserved areas of the U.S.
- Skilled and professional workers – this category includes professionals with bachelor’s degrees that do not meet one of the higher priority categories. This can include skilled workers with a minimum of two years of training and experience and unskilled workers.
- Special immigrants – the special immigrants category includes religious workers. It can also include current and former employees of the U.S. government working and living overseas.
- Immigrant investors – the category of immigrant investors includes those seeking green cards in connection with a new commercial enterprise. This category is limited to 10,000 immigrant investors per year.
Immigration law can help those seeking to emigrate navigate the complex system they face. Obtaining and employment-based green card can be a challenging process which is why understanding the categories and having trained guidance throughout the process can be helpful.